Fastener



United States Patent FASTENER Edwin F. Elms, Roseville, Mieh., assignorto Robert L. Brown, Ferndale, Mich.

Application January 4, 1955, Serial No. 47 9,775

2 Claims. (Cl. 2473) This invention relates to a fastener of the type tobe secured to an apertured panel for securing a molding or other part tothe panel. The fastener is made from malleable sheet metal and formed tothe desired shape by stamping.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bendable tab onthe fastener which projects through an aperture in the panel and toprovide the tab with a tapered channel depression which wedges againstanother portion of the fastener to bend the tab thereby securely lockingthe fastener to its support.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fastener having anintegral tab which has a downwardly directed portion of doublethickness, being reversely bent back upon itself, adapted to extendthrough an opening in the panel formed by a second downwardly stampedtab, the outer surface of one of double thickness tab portions beingarcuate and having a tapered channel portion directed toward the otherof the double thickness tab portions.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appearfrom the following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. l is a cross sectional view of the fastener, taken on line 1-1 ofFig. 3, showing the parts in position befor the fastener is applied to asupporting panel;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the fastener shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1 but showing the fastenerapplied to a supporting panel; and

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a sheet metal blank from which the fasteneris made.

Referring to the drawings, the fastener comprises a body portion 15)having upwardly and outwardly diverging flanges 12, the body portionbeing bowed upwardly so that the end edges engage the panel 14 with thecentral portion of the body spaced upwardly away from the panel 14. Thisbowed portion causes the end edges of the flanges 12 to diverge upwardlyand outwardly away from the end edges of the body portion 10. Stampedout of the central portion of the body 10 is a downwardly projecting tab16 on the underside of the fastener forming an opening 18. This tab 16is bent beyond a perpendicular plane to the plane of the body so as toprovide a hook-like member for engagement with the edge of an aperture26 in the panel 14.

Another tab 22 is formed from an outwardly extending portion, at oneedge of the blank, which is folded upwardly and inwardly over the bodyportion 10. In the normal position the portion 24 of the tab 22 slantsat an acute angle to the plane of the body portion 10. The tab 22 hasanother portion 26 which extends downwardly through the opening 18 inthe body portion 10 from which the tab 16 was stamped. The outer end ofthe tab 22 is reversely bent upwardly providing an arcuate portion 28which engages the edge of the tab 16 where it is united to the bodyportion 10. A depressed portion 30 is formed on the portion 26 facingthe portion 28 and 2,783,512 Patented Mar. 5, 1957 a channel 32,tapering from the outer end of the portion 28 toward the bend 34 betweenthe portions 26 and 28, is formed in the arcuate portion 28 facing thedepressed portion 30. The tapered channel 32 and the depressed portion30 engage each other.

When the fastener is applied to the panel 14 the hook 16 is inserted inthe opening 20 of the panel 14 and slid to holding position under oneedge of the panel. The bent portion between the portions 26 and 28 isreceived in the opening 20. The operator then forces the portion 24 andouter end of portion 28 into the opening 20. This action causes asliding action of the tapered channel 32 on the depressed portion 30causing the weaker bent section between the portions 26 and 28 to bendunderneath the opposite edge of the opening 20, as illustrated in Fig.4, the arcuate portion 28 hearing against the hook 16. Thus the fasteneris locked to the panel 14 by pressure engagement of the bent portion 26and the hook 16 on the underside of the panel 14.

The invention herein illustrated and described is illustrative of oneform of the device, but it is to be understood that various changes,including the size, shape and arrangement of parts, may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention and it is the intention tocover such reasonable changes as may be made within the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A sheet metal fastener of malleable material comprising a bodyportion, a first tab projecting downwardly and reversely bent to anacute angle to said body portion, said tab being struck out of said bodyportion providing an aperture through said body portion, a second tabintegral with one end of said body portion bent over said body portionextending on an angle upwardly and somewhat toward the aperture, saidsecond tab having a portion bent downwardly into the aperture andreversely bent upwardly providing a portion having its outer surface insliding contact with the base of said first tab, a channel stamped intothe upwardly extending portion and extending toward the downwardlyextending portion, said channel decreasing in depth from the outer freeend thereof toward the reverse bend, said channel being in contact withthe downwardly extending portion of said second tab.

2. A sheet metal fastener of malleable material comprising a bodyportion, a first tab projecting downwardly and reversely bent to anacute angle to said body portion, said tab being struck out of said bodyportion provid ing an aperture through said body portion, a second tabintegral with one end of said body portion bent over said body portionextending on an angle upwardly and somewhat toward the aperture, saidsecond tab having a portion bent downwardly into the aperture andreversely bent upwardly providing a portion having its outer surfacecurved and in sliding contact with the base of said first tab, a channelstamped into the upwardly extending portion and extending toward thedownwardly extending portion, said channel decreasing in depth from theouter free end thereof toward the reverse bend, the free end of saidupwardly extending portion initially terminating above the plane of theangularly disposedportion of said tab, and a depressed portion in saiddownwardly extending portion in contact with the outer face of saidchannel. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,128,004 Lombard Aug. 13, 1938 2,438,338 Poupitch Sept. 30, 19472,471,247 Stadler May 24, 1949 2,476,207 Brown July 12, 1949

